Technology should be used for awesome.

Photography

After construction made it to a point where they could skate, Wagner asked if I could come back and get some shots of him rippin it up.

I’m not entirely happy with the lighting and background in this one, but the moment was cool so it was a keeper.

I got there just at sunset, so we had little ambient light to work with. We turned on a few lights by the ramp, I gelled my flash with a full CTO, left it undiffused for hard shadows and an edgy look, and had a helper run around with it following the action. He didn’t think to keep the flash out of my fov, so a few pics have some really cool flare in them.

I love shooting just after sunset, or just before sunrise; when the light is low, there are so many colors in the sky that our eye can’t see but the camera picks up. I love this blue, and this image is directly off the camera, with practically zero adjustment, only a very tiny bit of unsharp mask to punch it up.

At one point my helper accidentally hit a button on the flash, and switched the mode. I had it set for manual, at 1/4 output, to get consistent and powerful lighting, and a dramatic effect. When he hit the button it switched to TTL mode, and the output dropped significantly. A few shots, like this one, worked out despite the change, and look even more dramatic. Serendipity!

Sparks flew as steel was cut, smiles broke through the pain of ink needling its way into skin, and the flames from the pit warmed everyone’s soul. A great evening. Here are a few shots for your enjoyment.

Those sparks are awesome. That’s Wagner there, with the angle grinder.

Kate thinks she looks silly in that pic, but I think it’s quite flattering.

Kyle was chillin with kate around the fire pit. He’s got a nice angular profile, and the lighting was right.

Sadly, the last day of filming has descended upon nearly everone, with a small crack team headed out to the Wastelands tomorrow morning. Today was a lesson for all, that mind control has consequences. The only thing left to say is this:

Sometimes, you need someone to take care of problems. To handle… messy situations. Enter the Cleaners. Highly trained, well-paid, these company men and women are the elite guard for the Ministry of Control. But today it seems they’ve run into a mess they didn’t quite expect. After that, another cleric named Gia faces Jah head-to-head with flying steel, bending her mind toward dispatching him. If you only knew what was between Samara and Gia – the battle would stop your heart.

Day eight will leap out from behind a wall and shove a shiv through your chest after the jump: